The Tale Of Kazumi Kurosawa
by steampunkqueen2489
Summary: this is the story of one of my Naruto ocs, Kazumi Kurosawa, from her point of view. some of mine and my sister's other ocs will be in this also. Kazumi Kurosawa & Amaya Momochi are my ocs. Rin Nagame, Kin Akiyama, and Suzu Himura are my sister's ocs.
1. Chapter 1: Introduction

-Part 1: Introduction-

What do you have left if you lose everyone you ever cared about? What do you live for then? I've lost more people in my life than I thought one person could ever lose. I've watched too many people close to me die. When I was young, life was good. And I thought it would be forever. But, I was naive, like most kids are at that age. Perfection can never last forever, and happiness is fleeting. I am Kazumi Kurosawa, and this is my story.


	2. Chapter 2: Childhood

-Part 2: Childhood-

My twin sister, Kiyomi, and I were born in Takigakure, The Village Hidden In The Waterfall. Though, my mother was actually from Amegakure, The Village Hidden In The Rain, and she lived there until she met my father, a ninja from a special clan in The Village Hidden In The Waterfall. He was in the Hidden Rain Village on business I was told. They met, fell in love, and my mother went to live with him in his village. But, my mother still kept in touch with her older brother who had a young son, Yahiko, my cousin. Eventually, my twin sister and I were born, and eventually Yahiko's parents, my aunt and uncle, my mother's brother and his wife, were killed, leaving Yahiko as an orphan. My family visited Yahiko often, and my mother thought about adopting him. But, before any of that could happen, tragedy struck. When my sister and I were five years old, our lives were shattered. Our parents were killed, along with the rest of my father's clan, in a paper bomb trap set by a rival clan. My sister and I were now orphans. A neighbor took us in, but we still kept in touch with our cousin, Yahiko, and when we were old enough, my sister and I joined the ninja academy in our village. My father's clan had a special kekkai genkai. They were able to form their chakra into a glass-like material, clear, and sharper than glass, and of just about any shape and size. My sister and I inherited that kekkai genkai. We were the last of our line. But, my sister and I were polar opposites. Where I wanted to hone that kekkai genkai, become strong as our clan once was, my sister didn't like to fight. She studied to be a medical ninja, to heal people. As opposite as we were, we were close. Each of us was all the other had left. But, that didn't last. One evening, when we were nine years old, that changed.

"Kazumi, you're really coming along. You're going to be really strong some day." my sister, Kiyomi said.

"So could you, if you wanted to." I told her.

"No, Kazumi. I couldn't. It's just not me. You're the fighter, not me." she said, fumbling with her necklace as we walked home from the ninja academy one evening. She always wore that necklace. It was a locket, gold, with the design of a sun and moon carved into it, and a mirror inside.

"That necklace again?" I asked, though half grinning.

"Yeah. It reminds me of us." she said.

"Really? How's that?" I asked, a little confused.

"The sun and moon, polar opposites, but still strongly connected." she said, "Just like us." She opened the locket.

"And, the mirror." she said, opening the locket to reveal the mirror inside, "We're identical twins. We're a mirror image of each other. When I look in the mirror, I see not only myself, but I see you, too." I smiled. My sister had always been the more logical, philosophical one. She would be the one to think things through, sometimes over think things, and I would be the one to just do things.

"That's a good comparison, Kiyomi. But, which one am I, the sun or the moon?" I asked. My sister laughed.

"You're the sun, definitely, fiery full of life." Kiyomi said.

"Or are you just saying I'm the hot head?" I said.

"Well, if the shoe fits..." my sister joked.

"Yeah. You're definitely the calm, still, one, the one that thinks things through." I said. We rounded the corner, and bumped into somebody.

"We're so sorry." my sister apologized. But, I had a bad feeling. Something didn't seem right.

"We'll just be going now." I said. We tried to walk by the man, but he stepped on our path, blocking us.

"Excuse me." my sister said, and we tried again to walk past the man. But, again, he stepped into our path.

"Hey, we said we were sorry." I said. That was when we noticed he was holding a kunai in one hand.

"I'm not interested what you have to say. I just want your valuables. Now." the man said.

"Like money? We don't have any money." my sister told him.

"Anything I can sell that might be worth a buck or two." the man said.

"We don't have anything worth any money." I told him.

"Take me. Just leave my sister alone." Kiyomi said, stepping forward.

"Kiyomi, no." I said, grabbing her shoulder.

"Kazumi, run." she told me.

"What... no..." I said.

"Kazumi, I said go." she said in a voice more stern than I had ever thought she was capable of. The man lunged forward, and Kiyomi wrestled him for the kunai, and got stabbed. The man heard someone coming, and took off. My sister lay there, bleeding, and I kneeled next to her.

"No. No, why did you do that? Why?" I said. I was starting to cry now.

"Kazumi, listen..." she said weakly.

"Kiyomi, I'll get help for you, okay. Just hold on." I told her through tears.

"No. It's too late. I don't have long. Just listen." she said, holding her hand up with something in it.

"The necklace?" I said. She nodded.

"I want you to have it, Kazumi. Always remember me." she said, handing the necklace to me, then closing her eyes. She was gone. I cried as I took the necklace from her hand.

That was it, the one time in her life my sister chose to fight, instead of think, and and died for it, died protecting me. For what? Was it really worth it? I felt so alone.


	3. Chapter 3: Adolescence And The Akatsuki

-Part 3: Adolescence and The Akatsuki-

When I was fifteen years old, I left The Village Hidden In The Waterfall. There was nothing left for me there, no more reason to stay. My cousin, Yahiko, along with his two best friends, two other orphans, Nagato and Konan, had formed a group he called The Akatsuki. Under Yahiko's leadership, they were going to bring peace to the world. I had met Nagato and Konan a few times before when I had visited my cousin in the past. The three of them had lived together on their own since for a long time. I joined my cousin's group, The Akatsuki, and I met them again, though, of course, we were all much older now. Nagato commented on how much my cousin and I always looked alike. It wasn't perfect, but I was kind of happy again. I got to be close with them. Yahiko was like a big brother to me. I remember one day in particular.

"Hey, Kazumi. I got you a present." Yahiko said, handing me a box.

"You got me a box?" I said, grinning.

"Hah. Funny, Kazumi." he said, smiling and ruffling my hair, something he would often do, "No, what's in the box." Konan and Nagato were standing on either side of him. I opened the box. Inside was an ornate, beautiful mirror.

"I know you collect them." Yahiko said, smiling his boastful smile, quite pleased with himself.

"Thank you so much." I said, hugging my older cousin.

"Nagato and Konan put a little bit of money towards it, too." Yahiko said.

"Thank you, too, guys." I said, looking at Nagato, then Konan. They both gave a shy smile.

"You're welcome." Konan said.

"Yeah, you're welcome." Nagato said.

But, like everything, it didn't last. That was the last day I saw my cousin alive. There was an ambush, and my cousin, Yahiko gave his life to save Nagato and especially Konan, who I think he considered to be more than a friend. Nagato awakened a powerful visual jutsu called the Rinnegan, and killed all of the men who attacked us, but it left him changed. In Yahiko's last moments, he passed on his mission, his vision, his plan for peace, on to Nagato. I felt so empty. Now, my cousin was gone, too. I was grief-stricken, lashing out. I blamed Nagato and Konan. It was them that he had died to protect. I was wrong. I know that now. It wasn't their fault. Yahiko had made his own choice. He was always determined. But, I couldn't see that then. All I could see was that I had to watch one more person I cared about die, and in my grieving eyes, it was their fault. I was bitter. And, I left the Akatsuki. I couldn't stand to stay with the two people I blamed for my cousin's death. I left, and lived on my own after that.


	4. Chapter 4: The New Akatsuki

-Part 4: The New Akatsuki-

There's nothing to say really about the time that I was on my own. Those years were kind of a blur, honestly. It wasn't until six years later things started happening to me. I was approached by somebody one day. She was older, but I still recognized her. She didn't look so much different. It was Konan. Seeing her brought back so many emotions, I wasn't sure what to think.

"Kazumi, it's been some time." she said.

"Konan, what are you doing here?" I asked. I wasn't mad, seeing her there. During the time I had been on my own, I had finally come to realize that Yahiko's death wasn't their fault, and that the last thing he would have wanted was for me to blame them. They were the only thing I had left of my cousin, of that life, my only family, and I wished that I had stayed with them. But, it was too late. I had no idea where they were or how to find them. Now, finally, she had found me. I had never told them why I left, that I blamed them. I just told them I needed some space to grieve. Now, Konan had come and found me. I had no idea why, but I had a feeling maybe it was more than a social call. But, still, I was happy to see her.

"There's something I want to show you, Kazumi." she said.

"What?" I asked.

"There is... something we'd like you to be a part of." Konan said.

"We?" I asked.

"Nagato and I. You are Yahiko's cousin, his family. We think that you should be a part of this." Konan answered. I had wondered about Nagato, where he was. But, now I was wondering why he hadn't come with her.

"Alright." I said.

"Follow me." she told me. She led me through the forest and into a cave. Nothing could have prepared me for what was inside that cave. There was Nagato. But, he was a horrible sight. He was connected to some kind of machine. He was emaciated, and there were chakra rods sticking out of his back. Not at all like I remembered. It almost sickened me. Was this what Konan wanted to show me? At least I knew now why Nagato hadn't come with her to talk to me. Even Konan was different. She looked so sad. She used to smile. Now, looking at her, it seemed like it would be impossible for her to. My cousin's death had taken it's toll on them, too, not just me. I couldn't believe how selfish I had been.

"Kazumi. I'm glad you came." Nagato said.

"N...Nagato. Hello." I said. I was still trying to adjust to the sight of him.

"We have a plan." Konan said, "We're carrying on your cousin's plan for peace. We've formed a new group of Akatsuki. And, there's this." Out from the shadows walked six bodies, all of them different, but all of them had orange hair, a lot of piercings, and they all had rinnegan eyes like Nagato. Aside from that, there was nothing special about five of them, but the one standing in front, I noticed right away, and I couldn't believe it.

"N... no way. That's... not possible..." I said, taking a few steps back. Even with a ton of piercings and rinnegan eyes, I would recognize of anywhere. It was the body of my cousin, Yahiko.

"These are the six paths of Pain. They are all corpses that Nagato controls using the rinnegan. The piercings are chakra receivers. They make it easier for the bodies to absorb Nagato's chakra, which he transmits to them using the rinnegan and this machine. They are known as Pain, and they will lead the new Akatsuki to our goal. Your cousin's body is the main path of Pain, what we call the deva path. He is the main path of Pain, the face of Pain, if you will. He is the one you will see most of the time, the one who usually acts as Pain. The others are usually only used in combat." Konan explained.

"So, are they... alive?" I asked, reaching out to touch the arm of my cousin's body, which was standing before me. Pain, that body, looked down at me as I did so, but still let me. I got a chill. It was strange to see my cousin's body... alive.

"The bodies are alive, but they don't have their own consciousness. It is not your cousin. Nagato gives them consciousness. He is Pain, now, something more, a god." Konan said. A god... my cousin always said he would become a god to end all fighting. I guess, in a way, he did.

"Kazumi, will you join our new Akatsuki, help us attain our goal, peace?" my cousin's body, the main path of Pain, asked me. I jumped back, scared at first. It was so strange. It was definitely my cousin's voice, but definitely different, too. It was strange, but I was starting to find it strangely comforting. I knew it wasn't Yahiko, but having his body, this... Pain, around was like having just a little bit of him there. In a strange way, it comforted me.

"Yes. I'll join your new Akatsuki, and help achieve my cousin's goal." I said, smiling. Pain nodded his head, and Konan handed me a cloak, similar to the ones we wore in the old Akatsuki, but modified, and black with red clouds. I guessed that was the uniform for the new Akatsuki, since all the Pains were wearing one, and Konan was wearing one.

"We have to go pick up another new member who is joining today as well." Pain told me as I put on the cloak.

"Technically, Kazumi is rejoining." Konan said.

"Fair enough." Pain said. They led me through the woods to a spot where another young woman was waiting. She was a petite woman, also wearing one of the Akatsuki cloaks already. She had long, white hair that she wore in a ponytail high on her head, and she had pupil-less purple eyes.

"I thought maybe I got lost and was in the wrong spot." the young woman said.

"No, this is the place we told you to meet us." Pain said. He turned to look at me.

"Kazumi, this is Suzu Himura. She is joining the Akatsuki today." he introduced.

"Hi." the young woman, Suzu said, smiling politely.

"Suzu, this is Kazumi Kurosawa. She is my cousin. She was part of the original Akatsuki, and she is rejoining." Pain said. It seemed strange to hear him say that that first time, but also strangely kind of comforting.

"Cousins? I thought you two looked alike." Suzu said, "Nice to meet you, Kazumi."

"You, too, Suzu." I said.

"Come. We'll take you to the hideout." Konan said. They led us through the woods for what seemed like forever. Though, it did make sense that a criminal hideout would be deep in the woods so it would be hard to find. Finally, we came to a cave. Another one. They led us inside and down a really long tunnel until we finally came to a small living area, a pretty decent one for being inside a cave. Sitting and standing at various points around the room were others wearing the Akatsuki cloaks. I figured they were the other members of the Akatsuki. There were even a few women, something I'd wondered about.

"Attention. These are our new members, Kazumi Kurosawa and Suzu Himura." Pain said. He gestured towards each of us as he said our name. Everyone's attention was on us now.

"Kazumi was a member of the original Akatsuki. She's rejoining." Pain said, "She is also my cousin. Make these two feel welcome. If you have anything to discuss, I'll be in my office." Pain retreated to his office with Konan following behind. By now, everyone had come over to investigate us.

"So, you're Pain's cousin. I was thinking when I saw you that you look just like our leader." said a dark-haired young woman, "It's good to meet you both, Kazumi, Suzu. I'm Amaya Momochi." Amaya had long, spiky, black hair. She wore one of her bangs over her right eye, and her visible eye was crimson in color. When she opened her mouth, you could see that her teeth were sharp, pointed, like shark teeth, and even when her mouth was closed, a couple of the pointed teeth stuck out. Momochi. Why did that sound familiar?

"Nice to meet you, Amaya." Suzu said.

"Momochi. I feel like I should know that name." I said. Amaya smiled, showing again her pointed shark teeth.

"Almost everyone does." she said, "Momochi, as in Zabuza Momochi, one of the ninja swordsman, Demon of the Hidden Mist, and one of the best damn ninja to come out of the Hidden Mist Village. He was my father." That was it. Almost everyone had heard of Zabuza Momochi. She was his daughter. Come to think of it, she did look a lot like him. Standing next to Amaya, there was a tall man with silver hair that he wore slicked back. He had violet eyes, and kind of a crazy smile.

"Kazumi and Suzu, huh? Well, Kazumi, me and your cousin don't exactly see eye to eye, but I'm not going to hold that against you." he said.

"Um... alright." I said, trying to figure this man out. As it turns out, to this day, I still haven't figured him out.

"I'm Hidan." he said before he and Amaya walked away. I could see a black-haired man looking at me from the corner of the room. Standing with him was a tall, shark-looking man. They were the only two of the group who hadn't approached us yet.

"Well, look at this, hm." said a blonde-haired young man. He was short, thin and lanky. He wore his long, blonde hair in a ponytail with his bangs covering one eye. His one visible eye was light blue.

"You must be the new group members." said a young woman who was standing next to the him. She had long, brown hair that she wore hanging down. Her eyes were bright green.

"You were expecting us?" I asked.

"They told us some new group members would be coming today." the young woman said, shrugging her shoulders, "Other than that, they didn't tell us anything."

"I'm Deidara," the blonde young man said, then, gesturing towards the young, brown-haired woman, "and this is Rin Nagame."

"Nice to meet you both." Rin said, smiling politely before she and Deidara walked off.

"Well, this ought to be interesting." said a woman who was standing with her arms crossed, looking at us. She had long, black hair that she was wearing in two pigtails that sat low on her head. Her dark orange eyes seemed to be studying us.

"We'll see how long they last." said a tall man who was standing next to her. He was mostly covered. He wore a hood and mask that covered all of his face and head except for a small space where his eyes were. His eyes were strange, bright green with no pupils.

"I'm Kin Akiyama, and this is Kakuzu." the dark haired woman said. That was all the two of them said to us before they walked away. They were definitely a bit intimidating.

"So, you two are the new members." said a short, skinny young man with messy-looking red hair and and dark grey eyes.

"Yes, that's us." Suzu said.

"I am Sasori Of The Red Sand. Maybe you've heard of me." the young man said. Sasori Of The Red Sand. I had heard of him. He used to live in the Village Hidden In The Sand until he defected. From what I remembered hearing, he was supposedly one of the best puppetmasters. But, he also made his puppets out of the corpses of his victims. Gross. What a freak.

"You're Sasori Of The Red Sand?" Suzu said, "I've heard of you."

"They look like they'll be fun!" said a man standing next to Sasori, "Hi, I'm Tobi." He waved at us. He had a goofy-sounding voice, and he acted pretty squirrelly. I almost wondered if he wasn't altogether there. His face was hidden by an orange mask. The only thing you could see of him was some black, spiky hair sticking out the top. It seemed odd to me, and I wondered why someone like him would wear a mask. What was he hiding?

"Tobi is a good boy." the man, Tobi, said. Sasori sighed and started walking away.

"Tobi was glad to meet you." Tobi said, shaking hands with both of us before hurrying after Sasori. It wasn't until then, after everyone else was gone that the two men who had been in the corner, the dark-haired man who had been watching me before, and the shark-looking man, finally approached us.

"Hello there." said the shark-like man, smiling, revealing a mouthful of, you guessed it, pointed, shark-like teeth. He was unusually tall, and he had grey, shark-like skin, and small, round, white shark-looking eyes. His dark blue, spiky hair was fixed up in a point, kind of like a shark fin. The other man had long, black hair that was worn in a low ponytail. He had dark grey eyes, so dark they were almost black. He had a certain mysteriousness to him, but I also thought I could see a little sadness to him, too.

"I'm Kisame Hoshigaki." the shark-looking man said. He was a bit intimidating to be honest. He turned to look at the other man.

"Itachi, where are your manners? Aren't you going to introduce yourself?" Kisame said, still smiling his sharky smile. The other man looked at him, then back at us.

"I'm Itachi Uchiha." he said. Until that point, I hadn't even been sure if he could talk. Itachi Uchiha. I had heard that name before. Right. I had heard Itachi Uchiha was the one who killed all of his own clan, the Uchiha Clan, all except for his younger brother, Sasuke Uchiha. This was Itachi Uchiha? I had expected someone who had slaughtered his own clan to be much scarier.

"We look forward to working with you." Kisame said before he and Itachi walked off. I couldn't believe it. There was no way this was the same Itachi Uchiha who slaughtered his clan. My curiosity got the better of me, and I followed Itachi down the hall to his room, keeping out of sight.

"I know you're there. You can come out." he said after he walked into his room. I came out of hiding, and stood in the doorway to the room. He was laying on his back on his bed.

"I... I'm sorry for bothering you. I'll just... go." I said, pointing back over my shoulder.

"No." he said.

"What?" I said.

"I didn't say you were bothering me." he said.

"Well, you didn't say I wasn't, either." I said. He sat up on the bed.

"Sit down." he told me. I was a little nervous about being alone with the man who killed his whole clan. Not only that, but I had heard he was skilled with genjutsu. But,what I thought at the time was against my better judgement, I sat down beside him on the bed.

"You're not using your genjutsu on me, are you?" I asked him, "Would I even know of you were?" He must have found my question amusing because he laughed, barely, but it was still a laugh.

"I'm not using my genjutsu on you." he said.

"How do I know you're not lying?" I asked.

"I have no reason to." Itachi answered.

"To use genjutsu on me? Or to lie to me?" I asked.

"I have no reason to do either." Itachi said.

"Thanks, I think." I said.

"You're Kazumi, right?" he asked.

"Yeah. Kazumi Kurosawa." I said.

"Why were you following me, Kazumi?" Itachi asked.

"I don't know. I was... curious." I said. He looked at me, almost as if he was confused.

"You're Itachi Uchiha. Did you really kill your clan?" I blurted out, before I could stop myself. I could see a sadness in his eyes, and I immediately regretted asking.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry. I'll just leave you alone now." I said. I felt horrible, asking something like that, especially when I saw the look in his eyes, and I was mentally kicking myself. I started to stand up, but Itachi grabbed my arm. He had a strong grip, but more gentle than I would have thought. I sat back down on the bed, looking him in his dark eyes.

"I did kill my can. It's true. But, it's not how most people think it is. Everything I've done, I've done for my brother, Sasuke. It doesn't matter if I'm hated, even by him. He's alive and well. That's all that matters. The heads of the Village Hidden In The Leaves feared that my clan would start a civil war. I was part of our villages special ops. The Village officials ordered me to kill my clan to avoid civil war. They told me that if I didn't do it, they would have done it. They would have, and they would have left no one alive. I couldn't kill my brother, and I couldn't let them kill my brother. So I killed them, all of them except Sasuke. He is alive, and is able to have a normal life." Itachi explained. I don't know why he told me, whether it was something about me, or he was just tired of bearing the burden alone. I was shocked. That was the last thing I had expected to hear. He was forced to do a horrible thing, and did it, ruined his life, his reputation, becoming one of the most feared and hated criminals, all for his younger brother, Sasuke. He was the ultimate devoted older brother, throwing his life away all so his brother could have a life, and that was something I could understand. What I couldn't imagine was the heartbreak, the pain he must have suffered, having to do something like that. His village should have never put him in a position like that. What was wrong with them?

"I'm so sorry..." I said, looking away.

"Kazumi." he said. I looked at him again.

"Don't burden yourself with my troubles. They are not yours." he told me.

"That's such a terrible burden." I said, "But, why don't you tell your brother the truth? Explain everything, then maybe everything could be straightened out. Surely, he wouldn't hate you if he knew everything you'd done for him."

"No." Itachi said.

"What? Why?" I asked.

"I have to be seen as the bad guy, and Sasuke has to be seen as the good guy. It has to be this way, for the good of the village, and everyone else. My name, my reputation, none of it matters." he said, "You see, I'm sick."

"What? What do you mean, sick?" I asked.

"Don't worry, it's not contagious. There's no cure, however. I'm dying." he said.

"What? You're dying...?" I asked. I couldn't believe it. Life had dealt him a bad hand in every way possible. It just didn't seem fair.

"My brother will come for me, and eventually, kill me. That is my preferred death." he said.

"Don't talk about your life like you don't have one. You still have plenty of time left. Make the most of it." I said. He stared at me for a good minute, what he was thinking, though, I have no idea.

"I had a twin sister. She died when we were nine years old. She died protecting me. We got mugged one night walking home. She tried to get the kunai knife from the guy. She got stabbed. She died in front of me. There was nothing I could do. My sister was always the one to think things through, where I usually don't. The one time she didn't think things through, decided to fight, and she got killed." I said, "I thought my life was over. But, I was just a kid. Eventually, you realize you have to just pick up the pieces, what you have left, and just go on. That's when I joined the original Akatsuki."

"When our leader introduced you, he said you're his cousin." Itachi said.

"As if you couldn't tell by looking at us. Yeah, I'm Pain's cousin, well, technically." I said, "That's a bit of a story. You know how Pain has six bodies, right, the Six Paths Of Pain?"

"Yes." Itachi said.

"Well, like anything else, there's a person, a consciousness behind them, controlling the bodies. The person controlling the bodies is Nagato. My older cousin, Yahiko started the original Akatsuki with Nagato and Konan, his two best friends. They had the goal of achieving peace. But, we were attacked, and my cousin, Yahiko was killed. He sacrificed himself to save Konan and Nagato. His dying wish was that Nagato carry on his ideals, his plan for peace. Nagato, using a powerful jutsu, created "Pain" to lead the Akatsuki in carrying on my cousin's goal of achieving peace. But, Pain, the main body of Pain, anyway, is my cousin, Yahiko's body. I guess it's part of Nagato's way of carrying on my cousin's legacy, I guess. So, even though it's not actually my cousin's consciousness, Pain, is technically, my cousin. Though, he does share many of my cousin's ideals. I like to think of it as Nagato and my cousin, Yahiko, both combined, are Pain." I explained.

"You're right." Itachi said, "That is quite a story."

"Yeah. Though, I'm not sure people would believe me if I told it to them." I said.

"I believe you." Itachi said.

"Thanks. It is true." I said, "Well, I'm sure you've got better things to do than talk to me all day. I'll see you later, Itachi. Just think about what I said." I stood up and waved to him before leaving the room.


End file.
